Here, There, and Everywhere
by Fandom Jumper
Summary: First 5 chapters have been revised. "I'm Max Carrigan. It's nice to meet you." Maggie grinned as she took his hand."My name is Maggie. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Max." Excerpt from chapter 6. On hiatus.
1. Rain

**FJ: This is the new and improved version! Originally this story was called "Michelle" and it centered around my OC (named Michelle). However, as I wrote more of this story, I found I wanted to explore the depths of the other characters in ATU as well as my OC, so I changed the title from "Michelle" to "Here, There, and Everywhere". I also changed the name of my OC. Her name is no longer "Michelle", but now her name is Magil (as in "her name was Magil but she called herself Lil" yaddayadda), also known as Maggie.**

**Anyway…not much about the story has changed other than that stuff. Have fun reading the new version!**

* * *

Chapter One: Rain

---

The freighter's engine blew it's horn, signifying it's upcoming departure. Any second now, it was going to leave the station. And the girl standing next to the train, trying to look nonchalant, knew that she had to be on it.

_This is it,_ she thought to herself, adjusting the straps on the faded blue backpack that hung from her shoulders - the only luggage she had. _If I don't hop onto this train, I'll never get out of here._ She spied an open boxcar, near the caboose, and decided that it was her best bet. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out the Rat Magazine clipping with the ad for a room to rent in New York City. She put it back in her pocket after skimming it quickly for the umpteenth time, and felt the money that she would use to pay rent, in case the landlady asked for it two weeks in advance or something. It wasn't much money, but it was what she had borrowed from her father. Well…perhaps _stole_ would be a better word. She felt her stomach twist with guilt.

_No,_ she told herself firmly. _Don't feel guilty. You're leaving now, and you don't need to feel guilty about this. Besides, God will forgive you._

But would her father? Frankly, she didn't give a damn to what her father did or didn't do, so she, in turn, wouldn't give a damn to what she would or wouldn't do to her father. Even if it meant running away and stealing his money.

The horn of the freighter blasted again, and began pulling out of the station. The girl gripped her backpack straps and began sprinting after it. Luckily, she was a fast runner, but the train was chugging away quickly now. She put on a burst of speed and with one flying leap, grabbed the handle of the open boxcar door and swung herself in. She lay on the wood floor, breathing hard with exaustion, releif, and excitement. Her life was starting anew…right now.

---

"So why'd you call us all in here, Sadie?" Jude asked. He was sitting on the couch in the "whatever room" with one arm around Lucy. Max stood slumped against the wall and JoJo and Sadie stood in front of them all. Prudence and Rita, who had left Mr. Kite's circus long ago and moved into the tenant house, also sat on the couch with Lucy and Jude.

"Well, I thought you guys should know that the two hippies who lived here have moved out, and I put an ad in the paper to rent out the spare rooms," Sadie said.

"Aw, too bad. I always liked them," Rita pouted.

"Well, they started talking about moving to California a while ago," JoJo reminded them. But this was news to Max.

"When did they decide that?" he asked.

"Well, they first started talking about it while you were…" Prudence began, but stopped abruptly. Everyone looked at her, waiting to see what she'd say next. "…Away," she finished lamely. The others nodded quickly and fell silent. No particularly liked to be reminded that Max had been in Vietnam – especially Max. And even though deep down he wished it'd never happened, sometimes he felt annoyed at how his friends pretended like everything was normal. He knew that things could never be normal again, of course, and yet…he still wanted to forget about everything that had happened to him.

"So…how about we get some shut-eye?" JoJo finally broke the silence. It was near eleven at night now.

"Ah…yes, that sounds very good," Jude agreed, getting up from the couch and pulling Lucy along with him.

"Oh yeah, uh, JoJo and I got a gig tomorrow night at the Café Huh, so I'll expect you guys not to wake us up before two," Sadie told everyone. Everyone began to shuffle away toward their respective bedrooms, except for Max who remained slumped against the wall. Lucy looked at him, concerned. She glanced at Jude, and he nodded. Lucy went over to her brother and looked him in the eyes.

"Max?" she asked. "You okay?" He was silent. She reached up to touch his face, but he pulled away, bumping his head on the wall behind him. Jude, Prudence, Sadie, and JoJo laughed. Rita and Lucy just smiled a little. Max, however, scowled. It was odd, because he would have laughed about something like that, usually.

"What?" Jude called from the other side of the room. "What's the matter with you?"

"Are you sure you're okay, Max?" Lucy asked again.

"I'm sick," Max muttered. This time, he did not pull away when Lucy reached out to feel his forehead. She'd taken the statement literally.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm sick of _this_," Max said, beginning to walk away from his sister. Everyone watched him as he circled the room, their eyes filled with questions. For some reason, that made him even angrier, and his voice rose with every word he said. "I'm sick of being treated like a ghost! I'm sick of you guys pretending like everything is still exactly like it was before I left!"

"Max, that's ridiculous. We're doing no such thing," Lucy tried to explain calmly, but her brother interrupted her fiercely.

"Everything is different now," he growled angrily. "The war changed me. I'm a different person, and I'll never be the same, so you guys just need to get used to it!"

"No, you're not, Max!" Lucy yelled. She was angry now, too. "Just because you were drafted doesn't make you any different! It doesn't mean you have to change who you are! You're still the same old Max somewhere inside! You just need time to heal!" As she was saying this, Max tried to walk away, but she wouldn't let him. That made him even angrier, if that was possible.

"You weren't there, Lucy!" he shouted. "You didn't see what I saw! You have no idea what I went through! If you did, then you would be changed beyond repair, too!"

"Max, you're not the only one who's hurting from this war!" Lucy cried. "We felt it here, too! Don't think that we haven't changed along with the rest of the world, because we have! We all have! But we're all coping with these changes the best we can! You're not doing anything! You drive your taxi around the city, moping and feeling sorry for yourself!" Immediately after she said it, Lucy wished she could take it back. She hadn't meant for that sentence to come out sounding so harsh. But before she could open her mouth to apologize, Max lost his temper completely.

"Lucy, you don't even know what the hell you're talking about!" he roared. Lucy jumped back in surprise. "You don't think I want to go back to how things used to be? Of course I do! But I can't! War is something that changes you for the worse! Maybe if you got shipped out to the middle of fucking nowhere, you would understand what I mean!" With that, Max grabbed the keys to the taxi he drove during the day and stomped to the door. "I'm going out. I'll be back later," he practically spat. He left the apartment, letting the door slam shut behind him. The others stood in his wake, staring after him in surprise, as Lucy slumped to the floor. Silent tears slid down her face, but she only stared at the floor.

"I…I didn't really mean to explode at him. I'm just so scared with how he was acting. It's like he's not even Max anymore," she murmured, mostly to herself. Jude came around to Lucy's right side and pulled her into him with one arm.

"Shh…" he soothed her. "It's all right. He knows you're not really angry." Lucy sniffed and Jude gave her another squeeze. "He'll forgive you. He always does."

---

Max stormed down the stairs of the tenent building, angrier than he'd ever been. He hadn't meant to get so angry…especially at his little sister. But he'd been holding in all that anger for quite some time, and Lucy had given him an excuse to vent. When he stepped outside and began to walk to his taxi, though, he found a new reason to be angry.

"Ugh…perfect," he groaned and he hurried to his taxi in order to escape the rain that was falling hard and fast from the night sky. Once inside the cab, he shook off the water, put the keys in the ignition and began to drive to the city limits. He'd wanted to drive to Battery Park and look out at the harbor, but he hated the rain. So instead, he drove as far away as he could get from the city without actually leaving it.

---

It was raining hard by the time the girl reached the edge of the city. She'd jumped from the boxcar as soon as it had crossed the bridge. For the first time since she left New Jersey, she smiled a little. She liked the rain…most of the time. Not when she was walking at night by herself, though. She smiled mostly because of the irony that something she normally liked so much would come up at the most inoppurtune moment. And, in her hurry to pack, she'd forgotten an umbrella. She could really use one about now. Or…she suddenly heard the rumble of an engine and noticed a taxi cab passing by.

_Yes!_ she thought happily. She had enough money in her pocket to pay the driver, so she began to run toward it. "Taxi!" she called.

---

"Taxi!" came a voice. Max turned his head to the right and noticed a girl running toward the taxi.

"Oh no," he groaned. He was _not_ in the mood to chauffer someone to who-knows-where in the middle of the night. So he drove on, ignoring the girl. But then she gained on it and began running alongside the car, shouting, "Hey! Stop!" Damn, she was fast! Max was just about to gun the accelerator, when the girl suddenly put on a burst of speed and threw herself against the side of the cab. She hit the moving vehicle with such force that she bounced back and sprawled on the ground.

"Jesus Christ!" Max cursed, slamming the brakes down. What the hell had that girl been thinking? He waited anxiously to see if she was okay. Mad as he was at the world, he didn't really fancy being the cause of some anonymous girl's death. Luckily for him, she was alive. When she got up, she stumbled over to the taxi, opened the front door and glared at Max. Her brown hair was stringy wet from the rain, and her clothes and face were muddy. Her blue eyes were narrowed, so she also looked pissed, which might have turned Max on, had it been another time and place. But right now, he was angry, and his current mood impaired his judgement. He couldn't see past the dirty clothes and matted hair, and what he did see, he wasn't attracted to.

"You know, the point of taxis is so they can stop when someone calls for them," the girl informed him.

"This cab isn't in service," Max grumbled. "And what the hell were you thinking, running into the car like that? You could have been killed!"

"How else was I going to get you to stop the car?" the girl asked.

"I told you, this cab isn't in service," Max said. He was beginning to like this girl less and less.

"Well, since I'm here and you're here and the taxi's here…" the girl said, climbing into the passenger seat. "I need you to take me to the city." Max rolled his eyes as the girl shut the door.

"Where in the city?" he sighed, giving up. The girl paused.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I'll let you know when I'm ready to get out." Max gritted his teeth to keep his temper in check.

"I really don't have that kind of time," he growled. After a thought, he added the word "ma'am" at the end of the sentence.

"Well then, _sir_," the girl replied. "I'll try not to take long." She buckled the seatbelt.

"Most people like the backseat," Max told her. The girl glanced sideways at him.

"You mind?" she asked. What could Max say to that? He just huffed and began to drive. He noticed that she was wincing and rubbing her left arm, where she'd run into the taxi. Max sighed.

"You okay?" he asked. Annoyed or not, he felt somewhat responsible that she'd gotten hurt…even if it had been her really stupid idea to throw herself into the cab like that in the first place.

"Yeah," she replied, even though she could feel a bruise spreading from her shoulder to her elbow. It was then that Max noticed, for the first time, the girl's backpack. He took in her bedraggled appearance again, and it suddenly became clear to him that the girl must be running away. He'd attempted it as a teenager himself, and if there was one thing that Max knew runaways hated, it was to be questioned.

"What's in the bag?" he asked. She looked out the window, watching the raindrops run down the pane, and gripped her shoulder straps.

"Uh..nothing," she replied hesitantly. Oh yeah. She was definetely running away. "Just some old stuff…you know." Max gave a small nod.

"Where're you from?" he tried a new question. Her face blanched.

"Nowhere," she answered in a small voice.

"Ah. And before nowhere?" Max asked, using the same tactic that Jude had used on the night they first met Prudence. But the girl didn't answer, so Max was silent until he thought up a new question.

"Got a name?" The girl paused for a long while.

"Nancy," she finally answered. Max had a feeling that she wasn't telling the truth, so he decided to play along.

"I'm George," he falsley introduced himself. 'Nancy' nodded and continued to silently stare out the window. "So, 'Nancy'," Max continued. "Who are you running from?"

"Um…what?" 'Nancy' said, trying to sound nonchalant…and failing miserably.

"Come on," Max said. "It's so obvious you're running away. You in trouble with the police?" She shook her head, confused.

"No…nothing like that," she said.

"So you're just running away from home?" Max asked. 'Nancy' was silent, but Max could tell from the look on her face that he was right. "It's all right, I'm not going to turn you in or anything. I tried running away from home when I was your age, too. Didn't really work, though…"

"How do you know how old I am?" 'Nancy' demanded.

"I don't," Max admitted. "But…well, look at you." His eyes left the road for a moment to graze over 'Nancy's' small, frail body. "You look like you're sixteen."

"I'm nineteen!" she denied hotly.

"Could have fooled me," Max said. Of course, she might have been lying again.

"And what about you?" 'Nancy' inquired. "How old are you, like, thirty-six?" Max would have laughed, but he never laughed anymore. He attempted a smile, however.

"It's the mustache," he told her. "It makes me looke older than twenty-three." He glanced back at her for a moment. "If you're nineteen, you should be a freshman in college. Where do you go?" 'Nancy' snorted.

"You kidding? I'm not smart enough for college," she said. Her eyes never left the window as she spoke. "If you're twenty-three, you should have graduated last year. Where did_ you_ go?"

"I went to Princeton, but I didn't graduate," he said. "I was Ivy League material, though." 'Nancy' whirled her head around to look at Max.

"You went to Princeton?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"Yeah…what, you didn't think I looked smart enough for Princeton?"

"No, no, I just…wasn't expecting that," 'Nancy' stammered. She looked like she wanted to ask something else as well, and she hesitated before doing so. "Uh…why didn't you graduate, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I dropped out around Thanksgiving of my sophomore year," Max answered.

"How come?"

"Eh…college wasn't really for me," he replied. There was a short silence.

"Do you ever regret dropping out?" she asked. Max chewed on that for a bit.

"Sometimes," he finally replied, bracing himself for the question he knew she would ask next.

"Why?" There it was. Max sighed.

"Because if I hadn't dropped out, Uncle Sam would never have come after me." 'Nancy' looked at him with a hint of repsect.

"You were drafted?" she asked. Max nodded. There was silence as 'Nancy' played with the straps on her backpack.

"My father is a World War II vet," she murmured finally. "He doesn't really like to talk about it, though."

"I don't like talking about Vietnam, either," Max admitted. 'Nancy' looked sideways at him yet again.

"Then why'd you bring it up?" she asked. Max thought about that as he changed lanes.

"Because," he said. "I figured maybe if I was truthful with you, I'd get some honesty in return." 'Nancy' looked at him for a moment. "For example," Max began. "My name's not really George."

"My name's not really Nancy," the girl replied softly, avoiding Max's eyes.

"I know," Max said. The girl looked at him.

"How could you tell?" she asked.

"Next time you want to lie about your name, don't hesitate before you say it," Max told her. The girl nodded shamefacedly. "Now, let's try this again," Max continued. They came to a red light, so he stopped the car and stuck out his hand. "I'm Max Carrigan," he introduced himself. After only the slightest hesitation, the girl gave him a small smile and took his hand.

"Magil," she said. Max glanced at her, confusedly.

"…Magil?"

"It's a family name. Everyone calls me Maggie, though" she told him. Max changed his opinion about her from earlier. He was in a somewhat better mood, and could therefore see past her dirty appearance. Max decided that when clean, Maggie could be very pretty-beautiful, even-especially when she smiled.

"So, no last name then?" he asked.

"Hey, be glad you got my real first name," she told him, smirking.

"Are you really nineteen?" Max asked her.

"Yes, actually. I was telling the truth about that," Maggie said. "You really twenty-three?"

"Yes, ma'am," Max replied as the light turned green. They rode in silence for a while as the rain continued to pelt the roof of the car. "God, I hate the rain," Max complained.

"I like it, usually," Maggie spoke up, looking out the window again. "I just don't like it at night. It makes everything seem foreboding and spooky, but during the day, it's….well, it just seems happier."

"Rain sucks, no matter what time of day or night it is," Max disagreed. Maggie grinned.

"That's what a lot of people think," she said. She began to sing then.

"_If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads  
__They might as well be dead  
__If the rain comes, if the rain comes."_

"Pretty much," Max agreed.

"_When the sun shines, they slip into the shade  
__And sip their lemonade  
__When the sun shines, when the sun shines,"_ Maggie continued. Max drove on as he contemplated what Maggie was singing.

"_Ra-ain, I don't mind  
__Shi-ine, the weather's fine."_

"People like sunny days better than rainy days," Max said. "Sunny days don't get people wet."

"But there are so many beautiful things about rain, too!" Maggie argued. "It brings life!"

"Are you a hippie?" Max couldn't help asking. Maggie made a face.

"Hardly," she replied, but she continued to sing.

"_I can show you that when it starts to rain  
__Everything's the same  
__I can show you, I can show you."_

Max sang along in harmony."_When the rain comes down, when the rain comes down. _"

"Hey, stop the car for a second," Maggie said suddenly.

"You ready to get out?" Max asked hopefully. He pulled over to the curb and parked.

"No, not yet," Maggie said, letting herself out of the car. She appeared on Max's side soon after and pulled him out into the rain.

"What are you doing?" he asked, getting annoyed again.

"Showing you that everything's the same when it rains!" she told him.

"How is standing here showing me that?" Max was confused.

"_Can you hear me when it rains and shines?  
__It's just a state of mind  
__Can you hear me, can you hear me?" _Maggie sang, pulling Max along the sidewalk, splashing into puddles. Max didn't splash, but he did sing harmony again.

"_When it rains and shines, when it rains and shines."_

"Hey," Maggie stopped suddenly and spotted a phone booth a few feet away. "Let me make a call really quick. Go wait in the taxi, okay?"

"…Yeah, sure," Max said, glad to get out of the rain. Maggie left his side and hurried toward the phone booth, making sure her bag was still securely on her shoulders and the magazine article still securely in her pocket. Once inside the booth, she pulled out some coins to make the call. A sleepy voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" it said, and yawned.

"Um, hi," Maggie said quietly. "I'm really sorry to be calling so late, but I'm calling about the room for rent?" After a couple minutes of conversation, Maggie hung up the phone. The woman who'd answered the phone-Sadie-had OK'd Maggie's request to live with them, and Maggie had told her that she'd be arriving shortly. However, when she went back outside to tell Max where she wanted to go, he and the cab were gone. Maggie stood there in the rain, stranded all alone in a city she didn't know.

"That bastard," she muttered, as she made her way back to the phone to tell Sadie that she'd be coming later than expected.

---

Max felt a little bad about leaving Maggie alone, but at least he didn't have to deal with her and her "when it rains and shines" crap anymore. She had opened his eyes a little, though, and for some reason, he was now in a better mood. Talking to her-annoying as it may have been-cleared his mind, somehow. He guessed listening to someone else talk for a while had helped him calm down. Now, he drove back to the tenant house to apologize to his sister.

And he thanked God that he was rid of Maggie.

* * *

**FJ: All right, that's the end of the first revised chapter. Oh, and in case you guys are wondering about the song, here's how I think:**

**Basically, in "Across The Universe", people broke out in song every couple minutes, and they all treated it as if it was a normal thing. Okay, there's an explanation, just in case you were confused about Maggie's random little song about rain.**

**Anyway…I hope you liked the first chapter! Tell me what you thought of it in review form, and I'll see you at the next update!**


	2. Golden Slumbers

**FJ: Hello, all. Here's the revised version of chapter two!**

Chapter Two: Golden Slumbers

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Maggie woke up the next morning very stiff, with a cramp in her neck. She'd fallen asleep in the phone booth, using her bag as a pillow and her jacket as a blanket. Needless to say, it hadn't been very comfortable, and again she cursed that taxi driver for stranding her alone there.

"Oh well," she sighed as she got to her feet, rubbed her eyes and tried to get rid of that cramp. "It's not like I'll ever have to see him again." The rain had stopped, so she stepped out of the phone booth and looked at her hand, where she had written the directions to Sadie's place. It actually wasn't really all that far from the phone booth-only about thirteen blocks or so-but she hadn't wanted to walk in the rain last night, especially considering this was New York City where she was liable to get raped or something. As she walked, she caught sight of herself in a shop window. She looked terrible. Her hair was knotted and messy, and her eyes were bloodshot from a not-very-comfortable sleep. She ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get the knots out and scooped up some water from a puddle on the ground to wash her face. Neither succeeded in making her hair unknotted nor her eyes more awake-looking, but at least she looked slightly human now. So with one more glance at her hand, she took off down the street, ready to start her new life.

---

Max had come home last night around 12:30 AM to Sadie's complaints of someone calling so late at night. He didn't really catch the details, because he'd gone straight to his sister to apologize. She forgave him for lashing out, and he forgave her for being harsh, so all was well in the end. That was when Sadie came in and said that a new tenant would be arriving in the morning around 10 AM and she needed Max and Lucy and Jude to show her around while she and JoJo rested up for their gig later that night. Jude obliged, but Max and Lucy both had work at 10:30 and couldn't stay long. In the end, it was decided that Jude, Prudence, and Rita would be the official tour guides for the new person, and they all went to bed.

Now, Max was awake, after yet another riveting nightmare about 'Nam. They came up every so often, and they always woke him up at the most inopportune times. Right now, for example, it was 9:57 AM. Max could have gotten at least fifteen more minutes of sleep if it hadn't been for that damn dream.

Suddenly, Lucy came running into his room, her blonde hair up in a towel and a bathrobe around her. It was obvious she'd just gotten out of the shower.

"Max, are you all right?" she asked, coming up to his bedside. "You were screaming."

"I was?" Max hated shouting out in his sleep. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just…you know, a dream." Lucy knitted her eyebrows together, but said nothing. This was to be expected of Max, but she still hated it. She smoothed his hair away from his forehead and planted a kiss on it.

"I'm gonna go dry up," she told him. "If you need anything, Jude's in his room."

"Okay, thanks," Max said. His sister gave him a small smile and walked out of his room as Max fell back on his bed. He closed his eyes in hope that sleep would come, when suddenly Jude came into the room.

"You seen Lucy?" he asked. Max opened one eye.

"Yeah, she just went to dry herself off," Max replied.

"Oh, all right." They were both silent for a while. Jude came to sit on Max's bed. "Are you all right, mate? I ah…heard you."

"I'm fine," Max said, maybe a little too quickly than he should have. Jude nodded and looked at the clock.

"I should probably get dressed. I'm supposed to show the new girl around when she gets here in…three minutes," he said, getting up. Max nodded as Jude left. Once again, Max was left alone with his thoughts. He needed to shower before he left for work. At exactly 9:59, he heard a knock on the door. Through his doorway, he saw Rita, Prudence, and Jude all race to the front door. Soon, here could hear introductions going on. He wasn't really in the mood to meet anyone new right now, so he decided it was shower time. Stripping himself of his boxers (which was all he wore to bed); he slipped into his fuzzy blue bathrobe and rubbed his eyes. As he approached the door, he could hear the voices of Jude, Rita, and Prudence.

"Through here is our kitchen," Rita was saying.

"This is the…main room?" Prudence said, her voice tinted with confusion.

"Living room," Rita corrected.

"Whatever room," Jude said. "That's what Sadie calls it, anyway."

"Yeah, where is she?" asked a female voice that Max didn't recognize. He figured it must be the new person.

"Sleeping," Prudence said. "She's a singer, and on nights when she has gigs, she doesn't wake up before two o'clock."

"Oh," said the girl. Actually, her voice was beginning to sound a little familiar now, as if Max'd heard it once in a dream or something…

Just as he was walking out of his room, he literally ran into Jude, and both men fell over.

"Oh, sorry mate," Jude said, picking himself up. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"Naw, I'm gonna take a shower now," Max said, though he stayed sprawled on the ground.

"Uh, this is Max. He lives here, too," Rita introduced. Max looked up—and froze. Standing with his friends, in his apartment, outside of his bedroom, was the girl he'd met last night.

"Maggie?"

For a moment or two, they just stared at each other. Max was astonished, to say the very least.

"You?" Maggie asked, continuing to stare at him in disbelief. Max couldn't say anything, he was too shocked. Suddenly, Maggie leaped on him like a wildcat and began to attack him, scratching at him and hitting him. She was incredibly violent for such a small person.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she screeched. "YOU JERK; YOU LEFT ME STRANDED IN THE RAIN! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" It didn't help that Max was sprawled on the ground and therefore helpless to stop her attacks. Jude, Rita, and Prudence had to pull Maggie off of Max. The two glared at each other. Max's hair was messed and he has a few scratches on his face and arms, where he'd tried to shield himself from Maggie's vicious scratches.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Max shouted.

"You abandoned me! Drove off in your taxi and left me stranded in the rain, you bastard!" Maggie cried. Jude, Rita and Prudence all turned to look at Max.

"Seriously?" Rita asked.

"Yeah," Maggie replied, still glaring. Just then, Lucy came out of her room, dressed for work. She saw her brother sprawled on the ground with scratches on his face.

"What's going on?" she asked as she helped Max up.

"She attacked me," Max accused, pointing at Maggie.

"He deserved it!" she shot back, glaring at him. Lucy looked at Jude, who shrugged.

"I'm just as clueless as you," he told her.

"I needed to get somewhere last night. He picked me up. I needed to make a call at a phone booth. He dropped me off. When I get out of the phone booth, he's gone. And I'm stranded alone in the middle of an unfamiliar city while it's raining!" Maggie growled.

"Seriously?" Rita asked again, raising an eyebrow at Max.

"Do not make this about me!" Max shouted. "She just storms in here and attacks me and everyone blames me?"

"Well, you _are_ kind of a jerk," Maggie muttered.

"You shut up!" Max exclaimed, turning to her.

"Well, excuse me if I'm a little bit put out with how you treated me last night, but you left me stranded all by myself in a city I didn't know! Who does that?" Maggie yelled.

"I do!" Max yelled back.

"Okay, both of you need to KNOCK IT OFF!" Prudence shouted, coming between them. She put her hands out and glared. "You both are really over-reacting. If you keep shouting, Sadie will wake up and there will be hell to pay for all of us. So Max-go take your shower. Maggie-chill out. Rita, Jude-let's continue the tour. Luce-you should probably go to work."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that…" she said. She gave Jude a kiss on the cheek and left.

"Um…that's Lucy…she's Jude's girlfriend and Max's sister," Rita said.

"I feel sorry for her, that she's related to such an asshole," Maggie murmured, shooting a brief, yet murderous glance at Max.

"Would you just shut up!?" he shouted.

"BOTH OF YOU calm down!" Prudence half-yelled. "Max: shower, now. Maggie: let's go." With that, she grabbed the other girl's wrist and jerked her down the hallway, with Rita and Jude in tow. With one more quick glare at Max, Maggie turned her head away and didn't look back again. Max growled incoherently and went into the bathroom to shower. The Carrigans were famous in Sadie's household for being notoriously quick shower-takers, but that day, Max took quite a long time. This was partly because he did not want to run into Maggie again. And really, who could blame him? He'd only just met her the other day, and he knew that she was irritating and violent. He couldn't believe he had to live under the same roof as her. And so Max resolved to stay as far away from her as possible.

---

"Sorry about that," Maggie grumbled, barely audible. "I don't get angry too often, but when I do, it's really bad."

"It's okay. It sounds like Max was kind of a jerk to you last night," Rita said kindly. Maggie didn't say anything, because she knew that if she tried, she'd only say something incredibly nasty.

"Okay well," Jude said, leading everyone down the hall. "Ah…Maggie, I suppose this could be your room." Maggie looked around. It was a nice little room, albeit bare. There was only a dresser, a bed, and a window.. Maggie wished she had brought some more stuff from home, to spruce this room up a bit. She dropped her bag onto the bed.

"Thanks," she said. "This is nice." The others nodded, unsure of what to do or say next. "Um…I didn't really get much sleep last night, so can I take a nap?" Maggie finally broke the silence.

"Sure," Prudence said.

"Of course," Rita replied politely. Jude nodded, and the three of them left. Rita turned back to Maggie as she was leaving the room.

"If you need anything, come find us," she said. Maggie nodded and Rita gave her a small smile and left, shutting the door behind her.

"Well that sucked," Maggie said aloud, flopping onto the bed. She hadn't been here for five minutes and already it seemed like no one liked her. Well…she had kind of made a big deal about the Max thing. She really didn't have to make such a racket about it. And she certainly shouldn't have jumped on him and attacked him. But when she got angry… Sighing, she opened her backpack and stuck her clothes in the bureau, and placed a small, wooden music box on top of it. It was the only personal item (other than clothes) that she had brought from home. She opened it and it softly began to play a song. It was a lullaby that her mother used to sing for her and her brother when they were little. The music coming from the box was wordless, but Maggie softly sang the words she knew so well.

"_Once there was a way to get back homeward  
__Once there was a way to get back home  
__Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
__And I will sing a lullaby."_

As much as she felt like she wasn't wanted here, she was very glad to be away from home. She was not looking for a way to get back homeward. At all. Ever.

"_Golden slumbers fill your eyes  
__Smiles await you when you rise  
__Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
__And I will sing a lullaby."_

She really was tired. She began to drift off. Maybe there would be some smiles awaiting her when she woke again.

"_Once there was a way to get back homeward  
__Once there was a way to get back home  
__Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
__And I will sing a lullaby."_

With those last words ringing in her ears, Maggie fell asleep, temporarily forgetting how shitty everything was turning out.

---

Max was dry now, after attempting to drown his anger in his shower. He'd more or less succeeded, and he figured that as long as he didn't have to talk to or see Maggie for the rest of the day, he'd be all right. Just as he was pulling on his jacket, Jude walked into the room.

"Holy shit!" cried Max, who was not expecting being barged in on like that. Jude raised his hands in self-defense.

"Sorry, mate. I didn't mean to surprise you," he apologized.

"What do you want?" Max hadn't meant for it to come out rudely, but that was how it sounded. Jude gave him a hard look.

"I wanted to know if you really left that girl stranded alone in the middle of the city," he said.

"Why the fuck is everyone so angry about that?!" Max cried out angrily.

"Well, it was a really rude thing of you to do," Jude pointed out. "All she wanted was a ride."

"Not at first!" Max shot back. "She had no idea where she wanted to go! And she was so annoying! Talking about rain and shine and all that shit…" Jude gave him a look that clearly said, 'I have no idea what you're talking about', so Max shut up.

"Look, I'm late for work. I've got to go. I'll see you later tonight." With that, Max pushed past his friend and let himself out. Jude sat on Max's bed and sighed. Maggie seemed like a nice girl, even if she had over-reacted. Then again, Max shouldn't have been such an asshole.

_But really_, Jude thought. _What do you expect from someone who just got back from dealing with shit in another country, and then had to deal with shit all over again back home?_ With another sigh, Jude got up out of Max's bed, and went to take a shower himself. He hoped that Max had left some hot water for him.

* * *

**FJ: Review!**

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	3. Love Me Do

**FJ: Enjoy the revised version of chapter three!**

* * *

Chapter Three: Love Me Do

---

Maggie napped well into two o'clock when Sadie and JoJo woke up. When the duo stumbled out of their rooms, they found Rita, Jude and Prudence lounging in the "whatever" room. Jude was sitting at his desk, smoking. He had a charcoal pencil in one hand, and in front of him was a blank piece of paper that he was rapidly turning into a work of art, as per usual. Rita was looking through the newspaper with Prudence, but they looked up when they noticed that Sadie and JoJo had walked into the room.

"Where's the new girl?" asked Sadie.

"Sleeping. She's been asleep for a while," Prudence replied.

"Do you think we should check on her or something?" wondered Rita.

"Nah, I'm sure she's fine," Jude said without looking up from his project. Sadie and JoJo glanced at each other, shrugged, and walked into the kitchen for breakfast. (Or lunch.)

"Hey, Sadie," came JoJo's voice as he rummaged through the refrigerator. "It looks like we're out of milk."

"Yeah. We're out of cereal, too," Sadie replied from the pantry. "Max is going to freak out if he doesn't have his Cap'n Crunch."

"I don't think we have any food left in this house at all," Rita remarked as she walked into the kitchen with Prudence in tow. "Actually, I take that back. We have…this head of lettuce." She took said vegetable out of the refrigerator and looked at it in disgust. It had obviously been in the refrigerator for eons-it was beginning to wilt.

"Ew," Prudence said, wrinkling her nose.

"I think that lettuce has been in this house longer than I have," Sadie remarked.

"What's been in this house longer than you?" Jude asked, entering the kitchen.

"That pitiful little vegetable," JoJo replied, gesturing at the greenish-brownish wilting mess that Rita was putting back into the refrigerator.

"Ew, Rita! Why are you putting it back?!" Prudence exclaimed. She didn't get a chance to answer though, because at that moment, Maggie came through the door.

"Uh…hi," she said awkwardly.

"Good morning," Rita said warmly. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you," Maggie replied.

"Hey, I'm Sadie," the singer introduced herself. "This is my boyfriend, JoJo."

"Sorry we weren't awake to greet you before," JoJo apologized.

"Oh, it's no big deal. Jude and Prudence and Rita showed me around and we got acquainted pretty well," Maggie said.

"Did you get to meet Lucy and Max?" Sadie asked. Maggie bristled, and everyone in the room noticed..

"Yes," she said, obviously trying to keep her temper in check. "Um…I'm going to go look for a job this afternoon. I should probably get started."

"Will you be back in time to come to our show?" Sadie asked. Maggie had begun to leave, but she turned around abruptly when Sadie spoke to her.

"Huh?" she said.

"Will you be back in time to come to our show?" Sadie repeated slowly.

"Do…do you want me to come?"

"Well sure!" JoJo said, grinning. "What better way to show hospitality to our new tenant than to invite her to our gig?" Maggie gave a small smile. It was the first smile any of them had seen from her since she arrived.

"What time is it at?" she asked.

"Eight o'clock," Sadie replied.

"I think I'll be back by then," Maggie said. "Thanks for inviting me." With one more small smile, she gave them a wave and headed for the exit.

"She seems nice," JoJo said when Maggie was gone.

"Why'd she get so touchy when I mentioned Lucy and Max?" Sadie asked.

"She's kind of angry at Max," Prudence explained.

"Oh great, what'd he do to her?" JoJo asked.

"Apparently after he left last night, he picked her up in his taxi while he was angry," Jude began to explain. "And when she got out of the car to make a phone call, he drove away."

"He left her all alone there?" Sadie exclaimed aloud.

"Yeah. She kind of freaked out when she found out that he lived here," Rita told her.

"What are they gonna do tonight when we go to the Café Huh?" Prudence wondered. "They'll be crowded into a booth with us. What's to stop her from attacking him again?"

"Again?" JoJo said. "When did she attack him in the first place?"

"Well…I guess it was sort of an understatement when I said she 'kind of freaked out'," Rita admitted sheepishly. Sadie rolled her eyes.

"Fantastic," she muttered. "I have two tenants who hate each other's guts. What am I going to do?"

"Next time they argue, you could throw the wilted lettuce at them," Prudence suggested. Everybody laughed.

---

Of all the people she'd met so far, Maggie decided that JoJo and Sadie were her favorites. They seemed to be genuinely glad that she had joined them. Of course, the others were pleasant, too. Rita was very kind, and Prudence and Jude were polite. Lucy seemed okay, although she was related to a prick. But that wasn't really her fault.

Maggie shook herself. She really didn't want to think about Max, or else she'd be angry the rest of the day. To keep her mind off of him, she busied herself in searching the streets for "Help Wanted" signs. She wasn't quite sure what kind of a job she was looking for, but she hoped that the right one would jump out when she saw it.

She saw the usual "Waitress Wanted" and "Hostess Wanted" signs, but she didn't want to work in a food business. She wanted something…different. And something that paid well, of course. She'd only stolen about thirty dollars from her father, and she was sure that she'd have to pay Sadie the rent soon. Also, she'd noticed that the only speck of food in the house was that wilted head of lettuce that Rita had found, and she figured she'd go grocery shopping at some point.

Suddenly, she noticed a sign out of the corner of her eye. "Dancers Wanted", it said. Maggie's mind flashed back to a sweet sixteen party she'd been invited to about three years ago. How the hostess has hired an exotic dancer to teach the female guests how to pole-dance. Instantly, Maggie knew that she'd found what she was looking for. Okay, so wanting to be a stripper was a _little_ over-the-top, she had to admit. But still, it certainly was a different job. And the tips would be great, too. She decided to go talk to the manager about an audition.

---

"How much do I owe ya?" the balding man said in a thick Brooklyn accent as he dug through his wallet to come up with the money. Max grumbled his response to the man he'd just dropped off.

_What a seedy dump this place is,_ Max couldn't help thinking. _What's a guy like this doing down here? _When Max allowed his eyes to wander, they landed on a building with a neon sign that read, "The Octopus's Garden", a popular strip club on the lower East Side. Max looked back at the guy he'd dropped off, but took his money without another thought. He didn't honestly care what this man was into anyway. _Could be worse,_ Max told himself. _He could be going to a gay strip club._ Immediately after that thought, he scolded himself internally. _I live with Prudence and Rita for Christ's sake!_ The man thanked Max for the ride, shut the door and headed for the club. _Who goes into a strip club in the middle of the afternoon, anyway? _Max couldn't help thinking.

Max was ready to gun the accelerator. He was so ready to drive home and take a long nap after he had a nice bowl of Cap'n Crunch. But something stopped him in his tracks.

As the balding man hurried to the building, he held the door open for someone to come out. The someone who came out was Maggie.

This was too much for Max.

"What the hell?" he wondered aloud. Against his better judgment, he decided to pick her up, and apologize for his behavior this morning and last night. He rolled down his window as she came up to the cab. As soon as she saw who the driver was, though, her face blanched.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in disgust. Max gestured toward the man who was now hurrying into the club.

"I just dropped that guy off, and when I saw you come out, I thought maybe I'd give you a ride home, for free. You know, as a way to apologize for what I did." Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, fine. You're forgiven. Whatever." She sounded as if she were making an effort to forgive him. "But I don't want to go home. Take me to the nearest grocery store; you guys are in desperate need of food."

"Really?" Max said. He thought of the pantry, bare with none of his favorite cereal… "Could you get some Cap'n Crunch for me?" Max expected her to laugh, but instead Maggie stared at him silently.

"Sure," she agreed as she climbed into the backseat.

"I thought you preferred the front," Max teased. He felt Maggie's eyes glaring daggers at him in his rearview mirror. He didn't want to piss her off anymore, so he just drove silently. But of course, it being New York City, they were stuck in traffic within five or so minutes.

"So uh…what were you doing in the Octopus's Garden?" Max asked, for lack of better conversation. "I didn't realize you swung that way."

"Oh ha-ha, you're so funny," Maggie snapped. Max recoiled as if she'd slapped him. "And for your information, I was auditioning for a position with them. And I got in."

"A _position_?!" Max cried incredulously. _Well, that's one way of looking at being a stripper for a living,_ he thought. Aloud, he said, "You could do so much better for yourself."

"Oh yeah, like you're one to talk, Mr. Cab-Driver-Who-Leaves-Passengers-Stranded-In-The-Rain!" Maggie retorted. It was a very lengthy, unnecessary name. It was a good thing Max didn't laugh anymore; otherwise he would have had to fight to contain himself. "Besides, what's it to you, anyway?" Maggie continued. This caused Max to pause. What _was_ it to him what this girl did for a living? One minute he hated her guts, the next, he was defending her morals. In fear of making a fool out of himself, he didn't talk to her until they reached the store.

"Well…thanks for the ride," Maggie said awkwardly as she shut the door when they arrived.

"Sure…no problem," Max replied just as awkwardly. He drove off quickly, splashing through a puddle of last night's rain. Some of it landed on Maggie. She spun around quickly and glared at the retreating taxi.

"You-you-you PRICK!" she spluttered. Passerby on the street shot her a look. Maggie felt her face go red as she stormed into the grocer's. She contemplated not buying Max his precious cereal, but decided against it when she realized that she really ought to avoid making him angry at her again.

---

Several hours later, Jude, Lucy, Max, Prudence, and Rita were crowded into a booth at the Café Huh, listening to Sadie and the Po Boys warm up.

"It's kinda nice to be back here, eh?" Jude said.

"Yeah, it reminds me of the good ol' days, before all this shit happened to Max," Lucy replied in a low voice. Max did not seem to be in on the conversation. He was just staring silently at the door as people began to file in. Everyone was excited to see Sadie and the Po Boys return to their original "concert hall". The Café Huh was expecting a full house tonight.

"Why's Max staring at the door?" Prudence asked a little too loudly.

"I'm not," he replied. "I'm just staring into space."

"I think I'll go outside to wait for Maggie to get here," Lucy said. "She is coming, right?"

"She said she was this afternoon," Rita replied.

"I'll go outside with you," Jude said to Lucy.

"We'll save your seats!" Prudence called after them as they left the café.

"Max told me he ran into Maggie this afternoon while he was working," Jude said when they were outside. "Apparently he saw her coming out of the Octopus's Garden." Lucy's face blanched.

"What was she doing in there?" she asked.

"Auditioning, according to Max."

"Did she get in?"

"Yeh."

"Wow…" Lucy said. "I didn't realize she was so…promiscuous. She doesn't look like she would be."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Jude said dryly. Just then, they noticed the small brunette girl hurrying down the sidewalk toward them. She smiled when she saw them. Lucy decided that she really liked Maggie's smile.

"I was worried I wasn't going to find this place," Maggie said. Lucy and Jude grinned.

"Come on, everyone's already inside," Jude said. "And I think the show's gonna start soon."

"Is Sadie any good?" Maggie asked.

"Sadie's amazing!" Lucy exclaimed. "I had my doubts about her when I first got here, too, but I've heard her play several times and she gets better and better each time." Maggie grinned wider. "I'm Lucy," Lucy introduced herself, sticking out her hand. "Sorry we didn't really get a chance to talk much this morning."

"It's fine. You probably wouldn't have wanted to talk to me anyway. I was in a bad mood," Maggie laughed as she shook Lucy's hand. "I'm Maggie…oh, hi guys!" The trio had walked back into the café and they sat down at the booth. Maggie wound up right across from Max.

"Hey," Max said in a barely audible tone. Maggie replied just as quietly. The others glanced at each other.

"Well at least they're not shouting," Prudence pointed out to the others.

"Hey, y'all!" Sadie's voice rang out over the microphone. "I'm Sadie, and these are my boys! Are y'all ready for some music!?"

"WHOOOO!" replied the audience.

"This is my first time hearing them play, too," Rita said to Maggie. "So we'll both be surprised together, huh?"

Maggie nodded. She was really starting to like Rita. She liked Lucy a lot too, despite who her brother was.

"All right gang, we're gonna start it out on kind of a low-key note," Sadie was saying to the audience. "But then we're really gonna rock out! So here comes our first song of the night!" The audience cheered again as Sadie pulled out a harmonica and began to play it.

"I didn't know Sadie could play the harmonica!" Jude exclaimed.

"Neither did I!" Lucy said in astonishment. Maggie was impressed. But she was even more impressed when Sadie and JoJo began to sing in harmony.

"_Love, love me do.  
You know I love you,  
I'll always be true,  
So please, love me do.  
Whoa, love me do."_

"Whoa," Maggie murmured.

"Aren't they great?" Prudence asked, eyes shining. She was obviously a huge fan. Maggie nodded again, too awed for words.

"_Someone to love,  
Somebody new.  
Someone to love,  
Someone like you,_" Sadie and JoJo continued, looking at each other. Maggie could tell that they really loved each other. She looked at Max, briefly, but looked away quickly. He'd been looking in her direction too.

"_Love, love me do.  
You know I love you,  
I'll always be true,  
So please, love me do.  
Whoa, love me do.  
Yeah, love me do.  
Whoa, oh, love me do._" As Lucy watched at her two friends onstage look at each other all gooey eyed, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander. Jude had one of his arms around her, but kept saying "Yeah!" and "Whoo!" really loudly. Prudence was freaking out, as usual. Rita was watching the band with a smile, but kept glancing warily at her girlfriend. Maggie smiled as she watched the band in awe as well. Lucy could tell that Maggie was impressed. She didn't believe in first impressions, so Lucy hoped that she and Maggie could become friends, despite what had happened this morning. Lastly, Lucy looked at her brother. He'd acted sort of dead earlier, but seemed to have perked up a little bit when the show started.

Now, he was looking surreptitiously at Maggie. Lucy thought that he might be checking on how she liked Sadie and the Po Boys as well, but when Maggie looked back at him, they both turned red and looked back at the stage quickly.

Naturally, Lucy was suspicious.

---

Later that night, everyone was on their way back to the apartment.

"You guys are really good," Maggie told Sadie and JoJo. "I was really impressed."

"Thanks, babe!" JoJo said, smiling widely.

"Great job, as always mates," Jude added. Everyone began congratulating Sadie and JoJo, except for Maggie and Lucy.

"So Jude told me about your new job," Lucy said to her. Maggie looked at her curiously.

"How'd he find out about it?" she wondered. "I didn't tell anyone except for…"

"My brother." Lucy finished Maggie's sentence and answered her question at the same time.

"Right. I should have figured," Maggie said wryly. "Are he and Jude really good friends?"

"The best," Lucy replied. "In fact, I met him around this time three years ago when my brother brought him home for Thanksgiving."

"Oh God, Thanksgiving's next week, isn't it?" Maggie said.

"A week from today," Lucy replied. "You going home for the holidays?" Maggie shook her head quickly.

"No way. Are you?"

"No. I think we're all just gonna have Thanksgiving here this year…if we can pool enough money together for a meal that is." Lucy could tell that the subject of home was a touchy one for Maggie, so she decided to change the subject. "When's your first day at uh…work?"

"Tomorrow night, around 9," Maggie replied, and then smiled sheepishly. "I was gonna ask you guys if you wanted to watch, but…"

"Of course we do!" Lucy blurted. "It's your first day. You'll need moral support."

"But what about you and Sadie and Rita and Prudence…wouldn't it be awkward for you guys?"

"Rita and Prudence aren't straight," Lucy murmured quietly. Maggie's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh! I, uh…didn't realize that…"

Lucy waved it off. "It's fine. Anyway, Sadie and I can handle it. We're non-conformists anyway. We don't care what people think about us. And if Jude and JoJo know enough not to stray from us." Lucy sounded so sure of herself. Maggie was a bit jealous to know that Lucy could count on her boyfriend to stay faithful to her.

"Well…okay, great!" Maggie said. The group was nearing the apartment building now.

"Oh, wait a minute." Lucy looked like she'd just remembered something. "We should ask JoJo. Hey, JoJo!" JoJo turned as they began climbing the stairs. "Would it be okay with you if we watched Maggie work tomorrow evening?" Max looked at his sister like she was crazy and Jude snickered. The others just looked confused.

"…Watch her work?" JoJo asked warily. Lucy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. She got a job at the Octopus's Garden," she said. Sadie cracked up, Rita and Prudence looked at each other, and JoJo stared at Maggie, who blushed and watched her feet.

"That sounds great!" JoJo said, smiling. "Would you guys mind doing that tomorrow?" he asked as Sadie unlocked the door.

"Whatever, honey. It's your birthday," Sadie replied.

"Tomorrow's your birthday!?" Maggie cried as everyone walked in.

"Yep. 29, baby!" JoJo smiled, but Maggie looked crestfallen.

"Damn it, why didn't someone tell me? I could have bought a cake while I was out."

"You went out?" Prudence asked.

"I did some grocery shopping," Maggie admitted.

"What?!" exclaimed all of the tenants. They all stampeded to the kitchen, to find the refrigerator and pantry almost full with food.

"Wow!" JoJo exclaimed.

"This is great!" Prudence cried.

"I don't think we've had real food in this house in years!" Sadie smiled.

"I also threw the lettuce out," Maggie told them. "I just kind of…tossed it out the bathroom window." Everyone laughed, except Max and Lucy, who gave each other expressions that said, 'What lettuce?'

"I could get used to having this one around," Jude remarked.

"Me too!" Rita agreed, smiling.

"Maggie, you're fantastic!" Lucy exclaimed, hugging her.

"Thanks," Max murmured, holding his Cap'n Crunch.

"Where'd you get the money for all this?" Lucy wondered, looking again at the nearly-filled refrigerator.

"I st--borrowed some from my dad before I left," Maggie said quickly.

"Next time you go out shopping, I'll go with you and we'll split the grocery bill," Lucy offered. Maggie smiled.

"Great!" she agreed. She was glad to have Lucy on her side.

And to have finally made some friends.

* * *

**FJ: Review!**


	4. Octopus's GardenWild Honey Pie

**FJ: Okay, I kind of wrote this (ridiculously long) chapter while I was on crack. (Not really. I have never been high/drunk/wasted/any of those in my life. I've never sampled drugs, beer, or even a cigarette. I am the purest person EVER when it comes to drugs and alcohol. I'm just letting you know how crazy this chapter gets, especially during the strip club scene.) But nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy this revised chapter, even though I get the feeling it's incredibly long. Ah well…**

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Chapter Four: Octopus's Garden/Wild Honey Pie

---

The next afternoon, JoJo woke up feeling happy. It was his twenty-ninth birthday after all. He still had one more year before he turned thirty. That was definetely something to celebrate.

The door to his bedroom opened just then and Sadie walked in, wearing her pink floral bathrobe. She smiled when she saw him.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," she whispered, kissing him. They kissed for a long moment before breaking apart. "Come on into the kitchen. It's already two and you need to have breakfast."

"Why're you up so early?" JoJo asked, following her out of the room. "The night after a gig, you're usually so worn out, you can barely walk."

"I just woke up, honey," Sadie told him as they walked into the kitchen.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOJO!" sceamed the voices of Jude, Lucy, Prudence, Rita, and Maggie. They were all standing at the kitchen table with Max, who just sat there with his Cap'n Crunch and nodded up at the black man. JoJo smiled hugely. In the middle of the table was a small homemade chocolate cake.

"When did you guys do that?!" he cried, pointing at the cake.

"Lucy and Maggie went out this morning and got some cake mix," Rita explained.

"Aww, thanks guys!" JoJo cried, throwing his arms around both girls, squishing them together. It was not the most comfortable position for anyone to be in.

"ACK! JoJo! Can't…breathe!" Lucy gasped. Maggie flailed her arms in JoJo's grasp, nearly taking out the eyes of anyone who was near. Sadie, Jude, Prudence and Rita each took a step back and laughed out loud. Max gave a pathetic half-smile as he stared into his bowl of Cap'n Crunch.

"So, cake for breakfast then, huh?" JoJo grinned widely, taking a seat. "Or should I say, lunch?"

"It's your birthday," Rita reminded him.

"I can serve it up if you want," Maggie offered, rummaging around in the cupboard for some plates.

"You want cake?" she briskly asked Max, who had just polished off the last remnants of his cereal.

"Sure," he replied. Maggie, with Lucy's help, got plates out and filled up some glasses with milk-a rare food item found in the tenant house.

"I love you eternally for picking up milk, by the way," Sadie told her newest tenant.

"I haven't had it in such a long time, I'd almost forgotten the taste. Isn't that sad?" Rita said.

"Yeah, I got that too," Max admitted to the table. "But I am glad we have it now. I love milk."

Jude snorted. "I'll say," he managed to say through his laughter.

It took awhile for the others at the table to get the joke, but when they did, they all began to giggle. Except for the exceptions of JoJo, who was too macho for giggling (he gave a manly laugh); Lucy, who glanced cautiously at her brother; and Max himself, who shot Jude a furious stare.

"It's not as bad as it used to be. I remember when he used to come home with a girl's arm wrapped around his waist almost every night," Prudence said, seeming to forget that Max was sitting at the table. She turned to Maggie. "You weren't here for this, but before the war, Max was a real womanizer." Maggie tried to imagine Max seducing some woman, and discovered that it wasn't a hard thing to picture. He was very attractive, although Maggie believed that he'd be hotter without that mustache. She began to wonder what he'd looked like without it.

"Could you stop talking about me like I'm not fucking here!?" Max roared, interuppting Maggie's thoughts. The others had begun laughing again, but stopped abruptly at Max's tone. He glared at them angrily. Then, he picked up his cake (and his milk) and stomped out of the kitchen. They heard his bedroom door slam, the last sound before an ominous silence hung in the kitchen.

"…Shit," Prudence sighed at last. "I'm sorry about that, guys. I keep hoping that the more I joke, the more he'll loosen up and become the old Max."

"I keep hoping that too, but I don't know if he'll ever be the old Max again," Jude admitted.

"Don't say that!" Lucy cried. "Of course he'll be the old Max again! He just…it's like I said the other night. He just needs time to heal."

"Luce," Sadie said gently. "It's been almost half a year since he came back. Don't you think he would have healed by now?" Tears had sprung to Lucy's eyes, and now she was fighting to keep them in.

"Sweetheart, we all miss the old Max too…" JoJo began, but Lucy cut him off.

"Nobody misses the old Max more than _I_ do!" she insisted. "I grew up with him! I lived with him for my whole life! When we were younger, I'd go to him with whatever problems I had, and he always helped to the best of his ability! But he's always so angry and miserable now that I can hardly look at him because I'm afraid that the next thing I do will set him off! Every night, I lay awake, waiting for his screams to give me an excuse to go into his room and comfort him! You don't understand how scared I am right now! I feel like I've lost my big brother-my best friend! And not one of you can understand how that feels!" With tears streaming down her face, Lucy also got up from the table and ran to her room. Her door slammed shut as well and once again, awkward silence fell over the table.

"D'you think I should go talk to her?" Jude said after a while. JoJo patted him on the shoulder.

"Naw, man. Not yet. Give her some time to cool down."

Maggie sat at the table, unsure of what to do. After overhearing all that Lucy had said, she began to regret being a bitch to Max the previous morning. Sure, he had stranded her and thouroughly pissed her off. But now Maggie understood that he was hurting. She wished she could understand what Lucy was feeling, being afraid that her brother would never be the same. Lucy had been great, helping Maggie get a supportive audience for her first night on the job and going cake shopping with her. Lucy had helped Maggie, and now Maggie was determined to return the favor. Somehow.

Maggie had not eaten any cake, as she was going to have to expose most of her body that night and didn't want to be bloated, so she excused herself and went to her room. She put her music box on while she thought of what to do.

An hour later, Maggie found herself knocking on Lucy's bedroom door.

---

Max's room was next to Lucy's, and the walls of the tenant house were thin as paper, so he heard it vividly when Lucy's bedroom door slammed and she dropped on her bed and began sobbing. Max wondered if he'd been part of what made her cry, and felt sorry. Everytime he'd teased Lucy, or yelled at her, or done something else to make her cry when they were children, his mother would always ask him, "Do you feel better, now that you made your sister cry?"

Max never felt better.

He lay on his bed now, his cake untouched on the nightstand. (He'd downed his milk angrily upon arrival to his bedroom.) He knew that if he didn't eat the cake soon, mice and roaches would be all over it, but he left it there for quite a while. Until about an hour later when he heard a knock on Lucy's door. Her sobs had subsided after twenty or thirty minutes, but she still sniffled from time to time.

"Come in," Lucy's voice, thick with tears, commanded the person who knocked. Max was sure it was Jude and prepared himself for the mushy dialogue that was about to ensue. But when Lucy's door opened, Max was surprised to hear Maggie's voice.

"I, uh…just wanted to make sure that you were doing all right," Maggie said. Lucy sniffled again.

"I'm okay now," she told Maggie. Maggie must have given Lucy an inquisitive look, because Lucy sighed and said, "Well, maybe not so much." Max heard Lucy's bed squeak as Maggie sat on it. "I'm just so scared…about how Max is acting."

Were they going to talk about him? Max grabbed his cake from the table, ran to the far wall of his bedroom and sat up against it, eager to hear what the girls were going to say.

"I'm sorry you had to sit through that," Lucy was saying. "I swear, Max and I don't get angry like that all the time."

_Luce had gotten angry? _Max thought as he shoveled cake into his mouth. _What about?_

"It's okay," Maggie replied. "I'm glad I got to sit through your little, um…speech. Now I understand why Max was being such a prick to me when I first met him."

"We'd had an argument that evening, too, pretty much about the exact same thing," Lucy said. "Max is so convinced that he'll never be the same again, and I still foolishly believe that he'll go back to being himself."

"It's not foolish that you have hope," Maggie comforted her. "Hope is something we all need. Sometimes, it's the only thing people have. It's what's got me convinced that this shitty war is going to end at some point."

"I guess," Lucy replied glumly. "I used to be involved in a giant, radical anti-war effort, you know. Back when Max was in 'Nam, and when he'd been in the hospital."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But soon they got way too radical, and they set off a bomb."

"I heard about that!" Maggie gasped. "My family freaked out when they saw that in the papers. We'd been planning a trip to go up to the city for Christmas, but that idea got shot down as soon as we heard about the bomb blast."

"I couldn't believe it," Lucy said. "We were all good people, fighting for a good cause. But Paco and the others just went about fighting for it the wrong way."

"Paco?"

"He was our leader, of sorts. Before Max left, he and Pru and Jude and I went on this peace march down 5th Avenue, and that was where I met him. I immediatley signed up for the SDR." Lucy snorted. "As it turned out, that was the biggest mistake of my life."

"How come?"

"Well for one thing, it created all sorts of problems between me and Jude. He was convinced that Paco and I were sleeping together. For another, I got all wrapped up in this super-radical stuff and had everyone worrying about me constantly. After Paco died in the bomb blast, I couldn't deal anymore, so I quit." The two were silent for a while.

"A few of my friends back home were pro-war," Maggie said. "I couldn't see why they were all for people going to Vietnam just to get shot and killed, especially since several boys from our graduating class were over there. This one kid was shipped out right after high school ended, and then a week later, he was killed."

"That's terrible," Lucy murmured. There was more silence. "My first boyfriend was a boy named Daniel. He couldn't wait to go to Vietnam. But he died, too. That's why I was so afraid when Max left for the first time.I was afraid that the same thing was going to happen to my big brother." Lucy drew in a shuddering breath. "But what wound up happening was almost worse. He came home, but he came home broken and changed." She began crying again. "I mean, what if Max never heals?"

"He _will_ heal," Maggie told Lucy firmly. "Some people just need more time than others. My father is a World War Two vet, and my mom once told me that it took him almost a year and a half to even begin to get over some of the terrible things he saw there."

"Really?" Lucy sounded a tad more hopeful.

"Absolutely," Maggie assured her. "We just need to be patient." Max heard a rueful smile in Maggie's next sentence. "I'd kind of like to get to know the old Max."

"Trust me, he's a lot more fun than the Max you know now," Lucy told her with a laugh. There was a silence in which Max heard nose-blowing and sniffling. "Thanks, Maggie. I'm glad we've become friends."

"I am too, Luce," Maggie said quietly. Max heard the two girls get off of the bed and open the door. As their footsteps padded down the hall, Max remained on the floor of his own room, his empty cake plate beside him. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

He'd known he'd been hurting, but he hadn't really taken the time to realize how much his behavior was hurting everyone else. Especially his sister. He couldn't believe she'd been so worried and afraid. He vowed to make up for how much he'd scared her, somehow.

Even after all these years, making his sister cry still didn't make him feel better.

---

Max had not originally planned on going to the Octopus's Garden with everyone that night, but he knew that Lucy would probably appreciate it if he went. So the next time Jude asked, "Mate, are you _sure_ you don't want to come with us?", Max replied with, "Anh, why the hell not?"

And so that was how, at quarter to nine that evening, he found himself walking through the East Side with the rest of the tenants.

"I've never been to a strip club before," Prudence admitted.

"Niether have I," replied most of the others.

"It's not that big a deal," Max assured them. "Basically what happens is a bunch of scantily clad chicks dance around poles and if they're good, you give them money. Sometimes if you can find them after the show you can pay them extra money to bang you, but I don't know if they do that here." Everyone stared at Max.

"You've been to a strip club, Max?" Lucy cried incredulously.

Max shrugged. "Sure. A few times during college. Don't tell Mom and Dad, though."

"I love how Max is the only one who's actually been to a strip club, but he's the least excited," Rita said, smiling. Max grumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a small, skinny blonde girl dressed (as Max had predicted) promiscuously. But what they weren't prepared for were the long, skinny, black pieces of fabric that were attached to her clothes and frayed out around her. It took them awhile, but they all finally realized they were supposed to represent octopus legs. (AN: Told you this was a crack chapter. Now, continuing with the fic…)

"Good evening," the girl grinned seductivley at the males. "Welcome to the Octopus's Garden! We hope that you'll enjoy yourselves." She ushered them all in, showing them the table they'd be sitting at. There were three stages around the club, and the table where they were to sit was pretty close to one of them. Max hoped that none of his friends would get too excited. He particularly worried about Prudence. There was some pulsing music as a few girls danced around poles.

A waitress (also in octopus legs) took their orders. When she left, Max said, "I wonder if Maggie'll be wearing those ridiculous legs." The straight girls rolled their eyes, Prudence and Rita glanced at each other, and JoJo and Jude laughed.

Just then, a new song began and a whole new group of girls ran out onto the stages. Maggie was among them, on the stage closest to her friends.

"MAAAAAAGGIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Jude called out above the roar of the crowd. Maggie smiled at him, but didn't acknowledge her friends any further and began her dance. She was at the center pole, with two red-heads dancing on either side of her. And, Max noticed, she was not wearing octopus legs. He figured that those were only for if you were a hostess or a waitress or something.

She _was_ wearing a very skimpy outfit that left practically nothing to the imagination. Her stomach and cleavage were on full display, and her bottoms were extremely short. Her hair was down and whipped around her face whenever she swung around the pole. She never stopped smiling. You would never have known she was nervous down to her bones. She shouldn't have been. The people who were watching her were cat-calling and whatnot. And not just her friends either. Max noticed that several people were whistling at her. He had the urge to join…not just to show support.

Because she was really good.

"_Honey pie, honey pie!" _the dancers sang.

"Welcome! I see you're enjoying yourselves?" The male voice turned Max's head and stopped JoJo's, Jude's, Prudence's and Rita's supportive calls. Sadie and Lucy also looked up. They saw a balding, heavy set man who was dressed normally (as in, a collared shirt and pants, and no octopus legs) standing at their table, grinning widely. "I'm the manager," he explained.

"Yeah, the show's great!" Jude said, smiling.

"I'm glad you like it," the manager said. He then gestured toward Maggie. "This one is new. Just had an audition yesterday, and I took her on the spot. She's a real keeper. I see her being a main stage event one day. A solo act." He grinned at them and continued along.

"…Wow," Rita said. "That's amazing."

"I'll say," Max muttered under his breath as the dancers continued. He felt himself go warm whenever Maggie looked in his direction.

"_Honey pie, honey pie!  
__Honey pie, honey pie!  
__Honey pie, honey pie, honey pie, honey pie!"  
_"_I love you, honey pie!" _Maggie sang alone, before the stage went dark, and everyone applauded.

---

It was midnight when everyone left the club. They stage-doored Maggie and when she came out, they practically tackled her.

"You were AWESOME!" gushed Prudence and Rita.

"You really were!" Jude exclaimed.

"Thanks you guys so much for coming. It really meant a lot," Maggie told them. "And happy birthday, JoJo." She smiled at the black man, who wrapped her up in a large hug and lifted her off her feet.

"Ack!" she cried. "Can't…breathe!"

"That's the second time someone's said that to me today," JoJo said, putting her down. "Maybe I should stop hugging people."

"You can hug me whenever you like, baby," Sadie smiled at him. Everyone laughed, and Max finally realized why he'd felt warm whenever he watched Maggie dance.

She had been the first girl to turn him on since he got back from the war.

---

Five days later, someone shook Lucy awake at 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Mmmph…" she groaned into her pillow. "What is it?"

"Luce, it's me," Maggie's voice came.

"Wazzup?" Lucy sighed tiredly.

"Um…remember how you said that you'd go with me next time I needed to go to the store?"

"Uh-huh…" Lucy wasn't really paying attention. She was trying to sleep.

"Well…I think we should probably go Thanksgiving shopping today."

"Whyy…?" Lucy's voice was muffled in her pillow.

"Well…Thanksgiving's the day after tomorrow, and stuff…" Maggie was saying.

"OHMIGOSH!" Lucy exclaimed leaping out of bed. "You're right!" Maggie had turned away for some reason, and Lucy realized that she was naked. She put some clothes on and apologized.

"Am I the only one in this house who wears pajamas to bed?" Maggie asked a bit irritably. "As far as I can tell, everyone here either sleeps butt-ass naked or in their underwear." Lucy smiled.

"Yeah…I don't know. We've all been living together for about three years, so it's not that big a deal for us. Besides, most of us are sleeping together anyway. At least, me and Jude, Sadie and JoJo, and Rita and Prudence…anyway, we should probably get started on that Thanksgiving shopping, huh?"

"Yeah," Maggie said, losing her irritability and smiling. Lucy woke Jude and told him where she and Maggie were going. With that, the two of them left the house to begin their Thanksgiving shopping expedition.

* * *

**FJ: Some notes about this chapter: The "do you feel better now that your younger sibling is crying" thing? My mom uses that on me, too. It's a bitch. I always feel so guilty. Also, the story about Maggie's friend from high school who died in 'Nam? That happened to a friend of my mom's, when she graduated high school. Anyway…review!**


	5. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

**FJ: So here is the revised version of chapter five!**

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this story is Maggie's character.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

---

Maggie still wasn't used to everyone sleeping so late, even though she'd been living with them for almost a week and a half. On Thanksgiving morning, she was the first one awake, as usual…or at least, she thought she was. But she stumbled into the whatever room, where the TV was set up, and saw none other than Jude sitting at his desk. At first, Maggie thought that Jude was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but she noticed that the TV was turned off, and that there was a blank piece of paper sitting on the desk in front of him.

"Hey there," she ventured. "…What are you doing?" He looked up at her and sighed.

"I'm trying to be inspired," he replied after a moment. "I need to create something." He looked back down at the paper.

"Are you an artist?"

"Yeh. I design Sadie's album covers. It's what I do for a living."

"Oh. Neat," she replied. "My younger brother's an artist, too…" They paused for a moment as Jude continued to stare at the paper. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, why are you in such a hurry to create something? You working on a new album cover?"

"No," Jude replied, looking up at her again. "I…want to make Lucy a painting for her birthday, but I need to get a rough draft sketched out first."

"Aw, that's so sweet! When's her birthday?" Maggie asked.

"May," Jude replied.

"…Jude, it's November. May's like, six months from now."

"Yeah, I know. But I want to be able to be done with it, so I don't have to worry about working on it as her birthday comes nearer and nearer," he explained.

"Oh." There was another pause. "You know, when my brother had trouble creating, he'd always come to me for advice. We came up with this exercise for getting him inspired. Basically, he would close his eyes, I would talk nonsense, and he would try to visualize everything I was saying."

"…That sounds a bit stupid," Jude told her truthfully.

"Well yeah, but that was half the fun of it."

"But I want my painting to have Lucy _in_ it."

"Then I'll try to talk nonsense about her," Maggie replied. "Now, close your eyes." Jude was still a bit skeptical of this idea, but he closed his eyes anyway. Maggie closed hers too, as she waited for words to come to her.

"_Picture yourself in a boat on a river _

_With tangerine trees and marmalade skies,"_ she sang. Jude imagined himself floating along a stream, looking up at the trees, colorful with their bright orange leaves, and watching the sun set in the sky.

"_Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly _

_A girl with kaleidoscope eyes," _Maggie continued. Imaginary Jude turned to the river bank and saw his beloved Lucy, her eyes shining as she called to him.

"_Cellophane flowers of yellow and green _

_Towering over your head." _Flowers shot up on the imaginary riverbank, reaching toward the heavens. Imaginary Lucy stood on one as it rose.

"_Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes _

_And she's gone." _Imaginary Lucy disappeared into the sky, but not before Jude saw the area of sky around her sparkle like jewels.

And just like that, Jude had at least the title for his painting.

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds," _he sang, opening his eyes and smiling Maggie smiled, too, as Jude continued singing his title.

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds. _

_Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Ahhhhhh…" _he closed his eyes again and let Maggie continue.

"_Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain _

_Where rocking-horse people eat marshmallow pies. _

_Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers _

_That grow so incredibly high. _

_Newspaper taxis appear on the shore _

_Waiting to take you away._

_Climb in the back with your head in the clouds _

_And you're gone."_

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds," _Jude sang again, as he began to sketch the outline of Lucy on the paper. _"Lucy in the sky with diamonds."_

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Ahhhhh…" _Maggie joined in on harmony before going back to helping Jude visualize. As she sang, he worked.

"_Picture yourself on a train in a station _

_With plasticine porters with looking-glass ties._

_Suddenly, someone is there in the turnstile:_

_The girl with kaleidoscope eyes." _

"_Lucy in the sky with diamonds._

_Lucy in the sky with diamonds._

_Lucy in the sky with diamonds. _

_Ahhhh…" _

---

Jude had lied to Maggie about what he was doing. He wasn't actually trying to draw something-he was trying to write something. But as much as he liked Maggie, he didn't really want to tell her that he was planning out his proposal to Lucy. He didn't quite know how he was going to ask her, and he wasn't much of a writer. So he settled on lying to Maggie about what he was doing. He didn't really enjoy lying to anyone, but he didn't want anyone to know until after he had asked Lucy to marry him.

He was still thinking of how he might go about doing this when everyone was seated at the table. No one was wearing nice clothes like they had been at the Carrigan's three years ago. Jude liked it that way. He didn't feel like he needed to impress anybody. These people were just his friends, and they weren't going to have a fancy Thanksgiving.

"Here's to a day off of work! Thank you, Pilgrims!" Lucy cried, raising her glass.

"Cheers!" cried everyone else in return, laughing. (Except, of course, for Max, who didn't laugh).

"Remember three years ago," Lucy continued as everyone began to eat. "When my parents made us go around the table and say what we were thankful for?"

"Yeah," Max and Jude said absentmindedly. Jude was still thinking and Max…well, he was just being Max.

"We used to do that at home, too," Maggie spoke up.

"Well, I'm thankful that Lucy and Maggie and Prudence and Rita cooked this lovely dinner for us," Sadie spoke up. The girls had gone out the day before yesterday and gotten a very budgeted Thanksgiving supper: the most pathetic turkey that was left in the store, some stuffing that Rita made, various vegetables such as corn and peas (although the only ones who actually ate that stuff were Lucy, Maggie, Prudence and Rita), and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a very sparse Thanksgiving dinner, but it didn't matter because they were all eating it together.

"I'm thankful that I'm living with people who care about me," Prudence spoke up. "Thanksgiving is always kind of a hard time for me, cuz it was about this time three years ago that I left home."

"Same here," Max said absentmindedly.

"Why _did_ you leave, Pru?" asked Maggie.

"Well, I had recently discovered my sexual orientation and I knew that my parents would be angry if they found out," Prudence explained. "It was hard, cuz my whole life I'd been raised Catholic."

"So had I," Rita cut in. "My family was Catholic, too."

"Is that why you left home, too?" Maggie asked. As Jude sat there and listened to the conversations, he found it very ironic that Maggie was asking all these questions about people's pasts, but she said so little about her own.

"Actually no," Rita replied. "I told my mother and two sisters soon after I realized I was a lesbian, and they completely supported me."

"…Really?" JoJo asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. The reason I left was because of a pastor."

"I thought you said that you didn't leave home because of your religon," Lucy interrupted.

"I didn't. I left because of this idiot minister," Rita replied, smiling. "Basically, after I told my mother, she supported me. She said that her brother was gay, too. Mom believes that homosexuality is genetic. We tried to keep it quiet, but we lived in a small suburban town, and secrets don't stay kept very long in towns our size. So eventually, some people at church found out, inclucing our pastor.

"One Sunday, he went up the the podium to do his sermon, and my mother and my sisters and I were sitting in the middle row. So he looks out at everyone in the congretation and begins: 'Homosexuality,' he says. 'Is the very definition of sin. It is the worst kind of blasphemy that mankind can commit.' And then, I swear to God, he looked right at me and he said, 'Gay people are the very seed of evil.'"

Everyone sat around the table, stunned into silence.

"Well," Rita continued. "The tension in the air was so thick that you could probably cut it with a knife. And my first instinct was to jump to my feet and start yelling profanities at this idiot. But I did the last thing that anyone expected me to do: I started laughing. I mean, I was laughing hysterically, and I couldn't stop. And my sisters glanced at me all worried like, 'Why the hell are you laughing?!' And then _they_ started laughing, because I was laughing. Withing ten seconds, all four of us-me, my sisters, and my mom-were laughing hysterically. It was so bad that we had to actually get up and leave the church."

The people at the table chuckled.

"In the parking lot, my mom asked me what I wanted to do. I told her that I should probably leave town, get a job somewhere, you know. And she and my sisters supported that, too. I still contact them every now and then, let them know how I'm doing…you know." Rita then took a bite of her peas, leaving everyone else still silent.

---

That evening after dessert, Jude stood in the bathroom, smoking a cigarette out the window. He was still wondering how and when he was going to propose to Lucy. And now he was beginning to question _if_ he should. He really wanted to talk to someone about it, but the only person he could really talk to about anything was Max. And Max just hadn't been the same since he'd returned from the war.

As much as he didn't want to believe this, Jude didn't think Max would ever heal from his experiences.

Suddenly, the bathroom door flew open and Max walked in. He stopped short when he saw Jude standing there.

"…Hey man," Max said. "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothin," Jude replied half-truthfully. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

Jude paused. He didn't want to lie again, but he couldn't tell the truth just yet. So he decided to tell a half-lie. "About Rita, mostly." This was partly true. Rita's story about her pastor had been swimming through his mind all throughout the rest of dinner and dessert.

"What about her?"

"Well…I mean…Hitler could have been the seed of evil," Jude said. "The Vietcong could be the seed of evil. Personally, I think that Paco was the seed of evil." Max smirked. "But…I don't know," Jude continued. "Rita…the sweetest girl I've ever met, who's always kind to everybody…the seed of evil? I don't know, mate…I have a hard time believing that."

"Yeah, man. I know what you mean," Max replied, joining Jude at the window.

"Want one?" Jude asked, offering Max a cigarette.

"Thanks, man," Max replied, taking it. The two men smoked for a while, before Max spoke again. "Do you remember three years ago, when we had that awkward Thanksgiving dinner at my house?"

"You mean when you dragged me into a conversation that I didn't want to be a part of, nor _should_ I have been a part of in the first place? Yes, I remember that quite well, actually," Jude said. Max smiled and made a noise that could have been a quiet snort of laughter, but Jude couldn't tell. And besides, he knew that Max never laughed anymore.

"And then we went bowling," Max continued.

"Yeah…I fell in love with your sister that night."

"I remember that. You were talking about her as we drove up here."

"You warned me that she had a boyfriend…"

"And you said, 'That's okay, I've got a girlfriend.' I was afraid that you were gonna demoralize my little sister. Like, that you were gonna steal her virginity before marriage or something."

"Actually, I _did_ wind up doing that."

"Well yeah…but man, it scared me. She was my little sister, I didn't want her to end up as some guy's latest bang."

"That's funny…you used to have sex with random women all the time," Jude pointed out, looking sideways at his best friend.

"Yeah man, _used_ to. Those days are over now."

"Good thing Maggie didn't come live with us back then," Jude said, looking back out the window. "Her cherry would have been popped probably the first day she moved in here."

Max glared at Jude. "Man, I don't even _like_ her."

"She's not that bad."

"In case you forgot, she attacked me the first day she moved in here."

"Only because you deserved it."

"…Yeah actually, that's probably true," Max sighed. "But I was in a pissy mood."

_When are you not, nowadays?_ Jude thought, but didn't say aloud. "So," he said, changing from the obviously touchy subject of Maggie. "Were you really afraid that I was going to turn your sister into a bad girl?"

"Well if I was, then it's a little late to change that. She's slept with you, been to clubs and parties, she's gotten drunk, and she's been under the influence of almost every substance," Max replied, taking another drag. "But yeah, I guess I was afraid of that. Lucy was always this sweet, innocent girl, and I barely knew you back then."

"But you know me now."

"Man, you're my best friend in the world. I'd say I know you pretty good."

"D'you know me well enough to know how much I love your sister, and how well I'd take care of her?" What was he doing? He hadn't been planning to tell Max his plans!

Max glanced sideways at Jude. "What are you saying, man?" Jude took a deep, deep breath.

"I'm in love with your sister, and I think I may want to ask her to marry me," he said in a rush. Max's eyes grew big and round.

"…Wow," he exhaled. "Uh…Jesus Christ…wow…"

"Yeah…the thought hit me yesterday, but I don't know how I'd propose to her, or when."

"Well, if you want to score major points with my family, you'd probably want to ask my dad."

"Your _father_?! Max, you must be shitting me! I'm terrified of your father! You know perfectly well that he blames me for bringing your sister out here and getting her involved in that radical anti-war movement!"

"Yeah…well, you could always elope. That'd go over with my folks _real_ good."

Jude sighed, defeated. "Well then, what _should _I do?"

"Let me talk to my parents first."

"…I hate to rain on your parade, but they're not that fond of you, either, Mr. College Drop-Out."

"Yeah, but now I'm a veteran. I fought for my country, even though I didn't want to. I'm a war hero, man. And I'd like to think that if my parents don't respect me, they might at least respect that."

"All right," Jude obliged. "If you think it'll help my cause…"

"Man, I can't see my sister with anyone else _but_ you, anymore. Besides, I don't trust any one else to treat her as good as you do. And besides which, she loves you."

"And I love her," Jude murmured, out to the night sky.

* * *

**FJ: Up until this chapter, I was using songs that were _not_ in the movie, but I couldn't think of one for this chapter, so I had the random Jude-drawing sequence in the beginning. I also purposely didn't put a lot of Maggie in this chapter, because I wanted some quality time with the characters we know. Also, a note about Rita's story: that actually happened to a friend of mine, only it was his brother who was gay. So I can't take credit for that story. Again: the only thing I own in this story is Maggie's character.**

**Anyway, there will be more Maggie and Max romance in the next chapter, so keep your eyes peeled! Toodles!**


	6. Fixing A Hole

**FJ: I am so sorry it took so long for me to come out with a new chapter. I took a fanfiction break for awhile when school started up again and just kind of…forgot to come back. Then, I watched ATU again and remembered how much I loved it. So…I'm back! Yay! Anyway…I still don't own ATU, otherwise I'd be married to Max. Also, I realized that Sadie's cat Rocky had not made a cameo yet in my story. He doesn't play a major role, but I thought I'd give him a shot anyway. Hope you like this chapter!**

**(P.S: I have changed the name of this story, in case you haven't realized. I've also changed the name of my OC. If you haven't already, you should go back and read this story from the beginning, otherwise you'll be really confused and say things like, "Who the hell is Maggie?" So…go back to chapter 1 if you haven't read the new revised version of it yet, and continue from there.)**

**(P.P.S: WARNING! This chapter consists of undressing and people showering together. I'm not including any descriptions – I am a firm believer in lemonless fics – but I just wanted to warn you all. Bye!)**

* * *

Chapter Six: Fixing A Hole

---

The day after Thanksgiving was interesting in both good and bad ways. Unfortunately, it started off in a bad-interesting way. Around three A.M, Maggie was in the middle of a very peaceful dream. She was sitting in the 'whatever' room as rain plopped from a hole in the ceiling, making satisfying _plink_ noises as the drops hit the wood floor. Eventually, a song made it's way to dream-Maggie's mind.

_I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in  
__And stops my mind from wandering where it will go…  
__I'm filling a crack that ran through the door  
__And kept my mind from wandering where it will go…_

This melody was suddenly interrupted by a strangled-sounded shout. Dream-Maggie looked around for the source of the noise, as real-world-Maggie furrowed her brow in her sleep.

Suddenly the shout came again and Maggie's eyes flew open as she realized it was not part of her dream. From across the hall, she heard the opening of Lucy's bedroom door, followed by the sounds of her footsteps running out of the room. Maggie felt compelled to follow and propelled herself out of bed. She made it to her door just in time to see Lucy's blonde hair fly into a room on the right--her brother Max's. Maggie took a deep breath and ducked her head into the room cautiously.

It was a scene she'd never dreamed she'd see. Lucy was seated on Max's bed, holding him against her and whispering into his hair. Tears streamed calmly down her face, but she just rocked her older brother back and forth. Max's state of being was much less tranquil-and much more frightening for Maggie, as well. As quietly as he tried, it could not be hidden that he was crying into his little sister's chest and clinging to her as though she were a lifeboat in a raging sea, and he didn't know how to swim. The sound of Max's quiet sobs just about broke Maggie's heart. She didn't want to witness any more of the scene, so she just went back to her room and lay on her bed in the quiet darkess. She put her music box on, but she didn't sleep.

_How often does Max wake up screaming in the middle of the night?_ Maggie wondered. Another thing she wondered was why it had made her feel so depressed to watch him silently cry into his sister. Hadn't he left her alone in the rain in the middle of the night on the first day she met him? Why did he deserve her pity? Maggie decided that she didn't pity Max. She was afraid. Even though she hadn't known him in his better days, she knew that this sad, desperate man was not who he was supposed to be. Watching him cry made him seem weak, and that made Maggie feel uncertain and a bit scared.

But then, who could say that crying was a sign of weakness? Maggie'd always thought that a man who cries in front of people had more courage than a man who didn't. Of course, Max had not known that she'd been there, so maybe it didn't count. All Maggie knew was that the next morning was going to be awkward.

---

And awkward it was.

For starters, Sadie and JoJo were not awake. Lucy had to cover someone else's shift at work, so she was gone before eight. No one knew where Prudence and Rita were. So at the breakfast table it was just Jude, Max and Maggie.

And Rocky, Sadie's cat, who enjoyed climbing up on the table and strutting past everybody's cereal. Maggie was allergic to cats.

"Achoo!" she sneezed, every time the cat walked by her. After this happened about seven times, Jude offered in a gentlemanly manner to put the cat outside.

"How will he get back idto the apardmedt?" Maggie wondered stufflily.

"He's a smart cat. I don't how he does it, but he always manages to find a way back in somehow," Jude assured her. Maggie gave him permission to temporarily dispose of the cat, so the British man picked him up and carried him out the door and down the stairs.

Maggie and Max were now alone in the kitchen.

They sat in silence for awhile, neither looking at the other, until finally Maggie couldn't stand it anymore.

"Are things going to be like this between us forever?" she asked. Max, who was in the middle of a bite, looked up at her and finally met her eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he chewed.

"I mean, there's a lot of hostility between us. And now it's making everything awkward. I um…I guess I just want to know if it's going to be that way forever." Maggie wanted to shoot herself. She sounded so ridiculous.

Max looked at her for a moment.

"Are you ever going to apologize?" he said finally.

"For what?"

"For attacking me on the day you moved in."

"I already did!"

"No you didn't," Max told her. "_I_ apologized for stranding you."

"And _I_ forgave you."

"Yeah, but you didn't apologize for what _you_ did. So you're just as much at fault as I am," Max pointed out. Maggie was silent for a moment.

"If I apologize, will you forgive me so we can start over?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay then." Maggie glanced away from the penatrating blue eyes that were staring at her from across the table, but only for a brief moment. She looked straight into them when she glanced back. "I'm sorry for attacking you on the day I moved in. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me." There was a brief silence in which the two just stared at each other.

Maggie cracked up. Max smiled – a _real_ smile – back at her.

"I do forgive you," he told her as her laugher died down. He reached across the table. "I'm Max Carrigan. It's nice to meet you." Maggie grinned as she took his hand.

"My name is Maggie. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Max."

At that moment, Jude walked in.

"Well, the cat's out of here for now…" he began. Then he noticed that Maggie and Max were reaching across the breakfast table mid-handshake. "…What's goin' on here?"

"Things are starting anew between me and Max, beginning today," Maggie informed Jude as she let go of Max's hand and began clearing her breakfast bowl from the table.

"Meaning…?" Jude was a bit confused.

"Meaning that there won't be any more awkward hostility between the two of us," Maggie answered from the sink. Jude glanced at Max, who shrugged.

"We forgave each other for being assholes," he said.

"It's about fucking time," Jude said as he walked out of the kitchen into the "whatever room" to work on something artistic.

---

Later that evening, Max was standing in the "whatever room", smoking out the window as JoJo sat nearby, playing his guitar and singing.

"_And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong  
__I'm right where I belong  
__I'm right where I belong  
__See the people standing there  
__Who disagree and never win  
__And wonder why they don't get in my door…"_

JoJo stopped playing for a moment and glanced over at Max, who was currently taking a long drag from his cigarette. JoJo looked down at his guitar and played a few riffs over and over again as he talked to Max.

"Jude told me that you and Maggie finally made peace with each other," he said as Max blew the smoke out. He turned to face the black man.

"Yep," Max confirmed, turning back out the window. JoJo nodded his approval.

"Good for you, man. It'll be a relief not to worry about you guys fighting again."

"For the record, she started it," Max said.

"You're the one who left her alone in the rain," JoJo reminded him.

"Yeah well, she didn't have to make such a big deal about it."

"True," JoJo agreed as he continued playing.

At that moment, the front door opened and Lucy walked in.

"Hey there," JoJo greeted her.

"Hi Luce. How was work?" asked Max.

"Sucky, as usual," Lucy replied. She looked around. "Where is everybody?"

"Jude's in his room, Maggie's at work, and Sadie went looking for Rocky," JoJo replied. Lucy furrowed her brow.

"What happened to Rocky?" she asked.

"Maggie's allergic to cats, and she kept sneezing during breakfast, so Jude put Rocky outside," Max said as he exhaled smoke.

"Oh…and where are Rita and Prudence?"

"Probably having sex or something." JoJo and Lucy rolled their eyes at Max's response.

"I think I'm going to take a shower and a nap," Lucy said. "I'll see you guys in a couple hours." With that, she walked towards Jude's room to say hello.

She stopped short when she entered.

On his walls were all his artistic works, of naked people, of strawberries, and all those other things. But now it was…different. They were all colorful.

Lucy spotted Jude on a ladder, moving a paintbrush up and down across the wall.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked him. Jude looked over at her and grinned. He sang his response as he climbed down the ladder.

"_I'm painting the room in a colorful way  
And when my mind is wandering  
There I will go..."_

Lucy smiled as Jude put the paintbrush on a paper towel and came toward her. He was covered in paint, but tried to wrap his arms around her as he approached her.

"_He-he-hey!  
__Hey!" _Lucy sang, laughing as she tried to get away from him. "If you want to touch me, you'll have to take a shower first."

"Fine then…but you have to take it with me," Jude grinned seductively.

"I was going to take a shower anyway," Lucy told him. They began to undress as Lucy asked what had gone on that day while she was away.

"Your brother and Maggie are friends now," Jude said. Lucy, who had been pulling off her pants, stopped short and glanced at him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep." Jude slipped on a bathrobe and threw a blanket to Lucy. When they were both fully naked, they walked down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Good for Max," Lucy said when they stepped into the bathroom. Jude shut the door as he and Lucy shed their covers and stepped into the shower. Lucy turned the water on and turned to her boyfriend. "Know what I think?"

"Mm. What's that?" asked Jude, trying to scrub the paint off of his arms.

"I think that Maggie and Max secretly like each other." Jude looked at Lucy.

"I don't know…" he said skeptically.

"The day before JoJo's birthday, when we all went to the Café Huh, I saw Max glancing at Maggie. And when she looked back at him, they both turned around really quickly and looked back at the stage! It was pretty suspicious, I think," Lucy said. She could tell that Jude didn't believe her, so she kept on. "And then, the next day, I was talking to Maggie and she said she'd like to get to know Max better. And Max went to watch her dance, after all!"

Jude sighed. He knew that more than anything, Lucy wanted Max to go back to the way he used to be. The way Jude saw it, Lucy _needed _to believe that Max would heal, that he would go back to his promiscuous ways, seducing every pretty, barely-legal girl he came across. Lucy probably saw Maggie as someone that could help Max get there. However, Jude knew that when Max had told him that he didn't like Maggie, he had meant it.

"I still don't know," Jude replied, not quite wanting to burst Lucy's bubble right away. "What if you're wrong?"

"What if you are?" Lucy replied, looking up at him. Her hair was wet and she had little droplets of water all down her face and body. Damn, she was beautiful.

"_And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong  
__I'm right where I belong  
__I'm right where I belong," _Jude sang to her.  
"_Silly people run around  
__They worry me and never ask me  
__Why they don't get past my door."_

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked him.

"I have no idea," Jude replied, leaning down and kissing her.

---

Around midnight, Maggie put her street clothes on and clocked out of work.

"See you tomorrow, Mag," called another dancer, Vera. Maggie grinned and waved at her co-worker.

"Thanks, Vera. Bye!" With that, she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Waiting on the street was a taxi. As she approached, she saw that the driver was Max.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him as he rolled the window down.

"Luce and Jude went to pick up paint – I don't know why, some art project that Jude is working on, I'm sure – and I decided to pick you up from work," he replied. Maggie was flabbergasted.

"Um…wow…thanks," she said as she opened the front door and took a seat next to him.

"Make up your mind," Max said to her as she buckled her seatbelt. "Do you like the front seat or the back seat?" Maggie glanced up at him.

"I alternate," she replied. Max started to drive as Maggie dug through her purse.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Money. This is like, the third time you've given me a ride and I've never paid you." Max rolled his eyes.

"The first time I wasn't on the clock," he said. "So you're off the hook for that. The next time, I offered to give you a ride for free as a peace offering. And I don't charge the people I live with for rides, because we're all friends. So don't worry about ever having to pay me, all right?"

Friends?

"Okay…thanks," Maggie murmured as she put her purse away. They rode in silence for a few minutes. "Where'd you say Lucy and Jude were?'

"Buying paint," Max replied.

"I didn't realize the stores were open this late."

"Jude knows some place that's open 24 hours. He'll wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me to drive him there." Maggie laughed, picturing Jude doing just that. "The only problem," Max continued. "Is that it's way on the other side of town, so it takes forever to get there." He yawned.

"You okay?" asked Maggie.

"Yeah, just tired," Max replied. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Instantly, Maggie felt herself blush and she kicked herself internally. She'd forgotten that Max woke up screaming in the middle of the night. In her perephiral vision, she saw Max stiffen.

"Something like that," he replied quietly. They rode in silence again until Max broke it.

"What's that?" he asked, gesturing toward Maggie's hand. She looked down.

"Oh," she replied, looking at the simple silver band that adorned her left pinky finger. "It's a promise ring."

"…A what?"

"A promise ring," Maggie repeated. "It's to…remind me not to…have sex before I'm married."

"Wait a minute," Max said, glancing at her quickly before turning back to the road. "You're still a virgin?"

"Yes," Maggie said. "It's important to me that my first time is with the man I'm married to."

"Why?" Max asked. Maggie shrugged.

"I want to hold on to my purity until I'm married. I believe that my body belongs to God first, and then to the man I'll marry."

"…So, you want to hold on to your virginity, but you take off your clothes in front of people for a living?" Max said. "I don't see how that works…isn't there some kind of purity-of-the-body-and-mind rule your Christians live by?"

"I'm a stripper, not a prostitute. There's a difference," Maggie replied. "Besides, God will forgive me."

_Oh boy,_ Max thought to himself. "So, do _you_ believe that homosexuals are the seed of evil?"

"Of course not!" Maggie exclaimed. "I believe that it's a sin, yes. But as Christians, you're taught to hate the sin and love the sinner. I honestly have no problem with Rita – or Prudence, for that matter – being who they are. That pastor of Rita's was a total dickhead."

"For a Christian, you sure don't have a pure mouth," Max said wryly.

"I'm unorthodox. So sue me," Maggie said, looking back out the window.

"So let me get this straight," Max said. "You don't have a problem with homos, you say works like 'fuck' and 'dickhead', you let people pay you money to take off your clothes – but you won't have premarital sex?"

"Let me rephrase: I'm _mostly_ unorthodox," Maggie replied. Max rolled his eyes and sighed. "What?" asked Maggie.

"You're weird."

"Thank you."

---

A couple hours later, Maggie, Prudence and Rita were hanging out in the "whatever room". Sadie, JoJo and Max were sleeping, and Lucy and Jude were still out buying paint.

"What time is it?" Prudence asked. Rita looked at her watch.

"Almost two in the morning," she replied.

"Where the hell are Lucy and Jude? They've been out buying paint for like, two hours," Prudence wondered. Suddenly, the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Maggie said to Prudence and Rita. She got off the couch and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Oh thank God, someone's awake," said the voice on the other end.

"Lucy?" Maggie was confused. "Where are you and Jude? We were expecting you guys hours ago!"

"Well, after we bought the paint, Jude and I decided to walk around for a while," Lucy replied.

"At two in the morning? Lucy, you could have been raped or something!"

"Well, I wasn't too worried about that, because I had Jude with me." Lucy paused. "We got mugged, though."

"What?"

"As we were walking back to the paint shop to call a taxi, these three guys came up and shoved us into an alley. One guy pulled out a knife and demanded all our money. Luckily, Jude didn't give them the two quarters that he had in his pocket. That's how we could make this call."

"Oh my God! Lucy, I'm so sorry! Are you guys okay?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. It was scary though. Jude tried to fight them, but that one guy had the knife…anyway, now we don't have any money to pay for a cab, not that we have any money to call one, either. Could you send my brother down to pick us up, please?" Lucy asked.

"Umm…hold on," Maggie stalled. She knew that Max was sleeping, and she didn't really want to wake him up, especially since he had been so tired from his lack of sleep the previous night.

"What's wrong?" Prudence whispered. Maggie covered the phone with her hand and told Rita and Prudence what had happened.

"And now they don't have any money for a cab?" Rita asked.

"Yeah. And I don't want to wake Max up so he can get them, but it looks like I'll have to," Maggie sighed.

"I can drive," Rita said. Prudence and Maggie looked at her, bewildered.

"…You can?" Prudence asked. Rita nodded.

"Yeah. I can pick up Lucy and Jude. Are they at that all-night art store?"

"Um…yeah," Maggie answered.

"Come on, Pru. Let's go get Lucy and Jude," Rita said, pulling her girlfriend along with her. She grabbed Max's keys, waved to Maggie, and pulled Prudence out the door.

"Bye, Maggie!" Prudence called before the door closed. Maggie grinned.

"You're brother's dead asleep, so Rita and Prudence are going to pick you up. They should be there soon," Maggie said to Lucy. Lucy was silent for a minute.

"Rita and Prudence can drive?" she asked.

"Well, Rita can," Maggie replied.

"Oh, thank you, Maggie! See you soon!"

"No problem, Lucy. You and Jude stay out of trouble till Rita gets there, okay?"

"We will. See ya!"

Lucy hung up, and so did Maggie. She yawned and sat back down on the couch. She decided she'd wait up for Rita, Prudence, Lucy and Jude for as long as possible.

As it turned out, it wasn't that long.

Within minutes, Maggie was fast asleep, and dreaming. In the dream, she stood near the window in the "whatever room", watching rain fall from the sky. That melody from her previous dream made it's way back to her mind.

_I'm taking the time for a number of things  
__That weren't important yesterday  
__And I still go…_

Suddenly, Maggie jerked awake as the dream was interrupted by a terrified sounding shout. She sat on the couch, waiting for the sound to come again. When it again pierced the otherwise quiet darkness, Maggie realized that the scream of terror and fright was coming from a room down the hall.

Max's bedroom.

Without a second thought or hesitation, Maggie launched herself off of the couch and flew toward Max's room. It was as if she was on auto-pilot. She only paused for a brief moment in Max's doorway, when she saw him thrashing about wildly in bed, yelling out in fear. Almost frantically, Maggie ran to the side of his bed and shook his shoulder.

"Max! Max! Max!" she cried. With a sudden shriek, Max sat bolt upright in bed and his eyes shot open. He sat there, gasping for air as he stared at her. Maggie, also breathing hard, put her hands on the sides of his face.

"It's okay," she whispered quietly, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "It was just a dream…it was just a dream…" A tear escaped from Max's eye and collided with her soft hand. Impulsively, Maggie pulled him towards her and held him close.

And he began to cry.

It wasn't loud or even all that noticable. But his silent sobs caused him to shudder in her grasp. His arms wrapped around her small torso and clutched her like a teddy bear. Maggie held his head against her and ran her fingers through his blonde hair. She had begun to cry as well, but she still continued to soothe him, reapeating "It was just a dream," over and over again.

They stayed there like that until they heard the front door open. Quietly, Maggie and Max looked at each other. She wiped his tears away, and then her own. He took her face in one of his calloused hands. He still looked terrible, but he mouthed 'thank you' to her before he let her go. With that, Maggie silently crept out of his bedroom and slunk, unnoticed, across the hall to hers. And all the time, the song kept playing in her mind.

_I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in  
__And stops my mind from wandering  
Where it will go  
Where it will go  
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in  
And stops my mind from wandering  
Where it will go…_

* * *

**FJ: Aww…poor Max. You just want to hug the poor guy. Anyway…you will notice that in this chapter, "Fixing A Hole" was used throughout the entire fic, sung by all different characters. This is symbolic of the fact that the entire day was dreamlike for Maggie. She and Max became friends, she watched him cry, and then she comforted him later on. I'm sure that ever since she met Max, she never thought any of those things would happen in a million years. And yet…**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fluff in that chapter. Once again I want to apologize for my obnoxiousness in not updating in like, half a year. I hope that you all still like the story.**

**(P.S: I hope none of you get annoyed with Maggie being a Christian, but that conversation will become important later on in the story. I hope I have not offended anyone.)**

**Review, and I'll be working on an update!**


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